Veselin 'Noiselessx' is an esports expert, mostly focusing on Dota 2, where he has achieved 5800 MMR. Having more than 12 years of Dota 2 experience and playing on multiple tier 2 & 3 teams, he has the needed knowledge to analyze details. His work has been featured on many esports websites. Twitter & Twitch @NoiselesS123

Dota 2: Pro Circuit 2019-2020 Guidelines and Format Revealed

Similar to every other year, the post-TI period is a time where players change their teams in order to have a better chance for the next DPC season. So far, we’ve seen a couple of very interesting changes. Having said that, there was no official information about the rules and dates for the next DPC until today. Valve finally decided to announce the guidelines, so let’s take a look at what the are.

The Dota Pro Circuit 2019-2020 — Official website has now been updated with new rules / guidelines and more. https://t.co/8C3tTdV3CP

What Was Updated?

There are some rules which are updates and others that are completely new.

Points earning – unlike last DPC season, every single team playing in the Major, Minor and in the regional qualifiers will be able to get points. This is a very significant change compared to last year.

The total amount of points for Majors & Minors – Each Major will provide 15K points, whereas each Mior will be 660.

As long as the team has a valid active roster, they will be able to receive invitations to the Regional Qualifiers. Similar to last year, each region will get at least 2 spots for a Major and one for Minor.

If there are any slots left at an event, Valve will assign them.

Only the teams that have not qualified for the Major can compete in the Minor qualifiers.

Substitutes are a very interesting topic in professional Dota 2. It seems like Valve realized this so they addressed this issue. Now, any team that plays in the LAN portion of a tournament with a substitute will have a 40% penalty on their DPC points from this event. This could be a very controversial decision but we are yet to see what will happen.

What is New?

You can check the entire prize pool distribution by clicking HERE. The first new rule is about the teams which take part in the Major as well as in the Minor. Now, they will only get points for the event in which they placed better, not in both of them.

If a team removes a player after they secured a slot at a Major or Minor, they will have a 20% DPC points penalty in addition to the 40% from playing with a sub. In other worders, it is highly advisable NOT to do it.

A team will be able to change players until the beginning of the final Minor. After that, teams can’t release any players from their roster. Having said that, they can still add players if they don’t have a full set of five until 12 PM PST the day after the last Major concludes.

Bad news for all of you who work for a team that has qualified for TI or the TI quals. You won’t be able to participate in the TI Open Qualifiers.

The top eight teams that have the most DPC points from each region that have not been directly invited to TI will be directly invited to the Regional qualifiers.

Format of Majors – 4x Bo3 GSL Groups of four teams. Of course, the top two go to the Upper Bracket, whereas the bottom to the Lower Bracket. The playoffs will be the same as now – bo1 in LB R1 and then bo3 until the Grand Final.

Format of Minors – 2x Bo3 GSL Groups of four teams, where the top two advance to the playoffs. Unlike in Majors, the bottom two will be directly eliminated. This means that the playoffs will feature four teams who play Bo3 in a double-elimination bracket.

This years’ qualifiers for Majors and Minors are combined into one. According to Valve, the idea is to reduce the complexity and time for players to prepare. What’s more, they would have extra time to prepare their visas and fix other issues. You can check the official qualifier dates HERE. The first one is due to start on the 30th of September.

Format of the Qualifiers

The first phase will continue for two days and it will have two Bo2 groups of five teams. The top eight teams which have the most DPC points will be invited and two can go via the open qualifiers. If there are not enough teams with DPC points, the slots will be divided by Valve.

The top two from each group will advance to “Phase 2” (WB), whereas the 3rd to “Phase 3” (LB). Unfortunately, all other teams will be eliminated and get 10 DPC points.

The second phase will have four teams playing in a double-elimination. The top 2-3 will qualify for the Major, whereas the losers go to the third phase. Four teams will play there in a double elimination and the first two spots will go to the Minor. Finally, those who get eliminated here will get 20 DPC points.